Interview with Klaus-Dieter Lehmann and Carola Lentz
“We have to face our responsibility to society”

On the occasion of the official handover, The Latest at Goethe spoke with the outgoing president of the Goethe-Institut Klaus-Dieter Lehmann and his successor Carola Lentz.

By Alexander Behrmann

Klaus-Dieter Lehmann took up his office as president of the Goethe-Institut on 1 April 2008. Looking back on his twelve-year term, he emphasises that the equality of cultures and the ability to learn must be the foundations of a cultural policy abroad. The Goethe-Institut sees culture and education as “pace-setters of civil society” that strengthen democracy and human rights.

Rethinking the relationship of domestic and foreign in cultural policy

Carola Lentz, previously a professor of anthropology and now senior research professor at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, is the new president of the Goethe-Institut from 19 November 2020. When asked about the priorities she will set in her future work, she advocated rethinking the relationship of domestic and foreign in cultural policy. The Goethe-Institut could become even more systematically active in this, especially in times when national borders are being reinforced and cultural intolerance, racism and right-wing radicalism are increasing.